Apparatus for processing olives



R. N. BALL ET AL 2,630,749

APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING OLIVES March 10, 1953 Filed Oct. 18, 1948 ZSnventor, Era/1 4190 N 5A4. a fawn/e0 M4 054L511 Patented Mar. 10, 1953 0 FFI CE APPARATUS FOR. PROCESSING Mil-VETS Richard N. Ball-and Edward Evan Dellcn, Yisalia, Calif.

Application October 18, 1948, Serial'No. 55 0-78 (01. Sill-+240) 1 Claim. 1

The present invention relates to an apparatus for processing olives. It is conventional in the industry, in the processingof ripe olives, to 3111161- nately treat the Whole olives with a caustic solution followed 'by exposure to the air. Such a procedure is usually done in several treatments, with the olives allowed to stand dry to a depth of one to two feet, accompanied by a stirring every few hours in wa'ter--or,-in certain instances, the olives are'he1d=under water and air is bubbled through the solution in order to color the olives. Color in ripe olives, is developed when the tannin in the olives becomes darkened through exposure to air. This happens in the portion of the flesh which the lye has already penetrated. In order to-develop-good black color in olives, it is necessary that the olives not be out too deeply with lye at any one time, hut that portion already treated with lye be exposed to air. By this method, "the tannin color developed in each :ex posure becomes insoluble in the following lye.

It is customary .in the industry to use from four to eight successive lyetreatments, alternated with air exposures. Thus, the intervals of time used vary between 24170 48 hours, with the lye treatmentsoccupying about fourhours each. In order to getuniform coloration of the olives during exposure and avoidthe spots which resultiromcontact between olives when they are not properly stirred, it is necessaryto do a good, thorough job of stirring the olives, Whether they are stirred by hand, With a wooden paddle in water, or stirred by violent agitation :underwater with air.

The disadvantage of 'usin the dry exposure method is that the olives can only he piled "in the vats to a very shallow depth, thus giving a small tonnage per square *foot of building space used. 'Thedisadvantage of the under-Waterprooess is thatiit'requireshuge volumes of air to aerate large vats, and even then, many of the olives in the corner of the tanks and on the bottoms of the tanks are moved but slightly and some are not moved at all, thus permitting aoontact'mark beween the olives where the exposure is uneven.

Our invention overcomes many of the objections noted above and contemplates an apparatus, forprocessinglolives,wherein each olive in a tank .gets a uniform stirring movement and roompl te aeration of the lye or the water once the olives are exposed; which obtains a more uniform lye penetration .by the olives; a uniform control of the strength of the lye solution; the easy re moval of the lye, whether by wash wate or through neutralization; :as well as sterilization and pasteurization of -ithe:o1i-ves where desired. The

anparatusandmethod also contemplates a treat- :ment .or .olives within 'aminimum space of time and in such a manner astosaveqlabor, obtain uniformity of product and reduce expense.

In the drawing Figure ,1 is a top plan view of apparatus ivhichmay be'utilized i 'p the invention,

iffigure 2 is a fragmentary, partially sectional view and elevation .of the apparatus shown in Figure 1,

Figure .3 is ,a :Jfragmentary, wpartially sectional view, showing .a means-whereby the olives, after aprocessingpmay -be;removed;f,r om the processing ttanhand Figure 4 is ;a fragmentary, partially sectional aview .of a slightly modified-means which may be utilized in :the processing development.

Referring ivithpartiicularity to the drawing, We hayeshown thereinapparatus which may be utilized in the practice oithezinvention, and the same includes atank 1, having in the present instance a circular side Wall ,2, and :a conical base 3, the :tankbeing open at the 13,0134. This tank may be 101 ;any size desired, depending upon the tonnage of .olives :to he handled, and it may be remarked :inthisregardthat a .tank having an inside dian1- .eter of .six feet and with aside wall of four-fool; depth, not including :the conical base, Will hold two rtons of olives ,to :be processed. The tank is .supported byqsosts designated generallyloy-B, there being four posts equidistantly spaced apart, which posts in tum may be interconnected by means of :bracesfi to stabilize the structure. In fact, the :tank :may have a turned rim 7 to further strengthen the same. Connected. to the conical .haseat the apex thereof isya val ed pipe a: which may :he used as .a drain, and immediately above :ure :2.

The :wall of the :pipe to, adjacent the inlet end L2, is provided with one or more annular series ao'fgspaced perforations I 3, and spacedly surrounclingthe-perforations is -a=jacket l4. Ajpipis extends-through the conical base 3 and communioates with the interiorof the jacket or the space included between the jacket and the periphery of the pipe in the zone of the perforations l3, as shown at 56. Pipe l5 leads to a compressor or air pump l'l, driven by motor l8.

The upper end of pipe I!) is braced by means of one or more equidistantly spaced radial arms l9, which connect with the interior of the cireular side wall 2. Situated beneath the rim or top of the tank and leading therefrom is an overflow pipe Zil.

It will be noted that the diameter of pipe iii is small in comparison to the diameter of the tank, and by way of example, in a tank of eightfoot diameter, the pipe H is eight inches in diameter. This pipe, as will appear from the statement of operation, functions as a pump or air-lift device.

The operations, uses and advantages of the invention are as follows:

The valve in pipe 8 is closed, and the olives to be processed are put in a lye solution in the tank. The water level will be at some point in the tank, dependent upon the tonnage of olives in solution, such as, for instance, shown in Figure 2, olives being indicated as 2i and the so1ution by 22. The motor I8 is driving the pump ii and air under pressure is then forced into the jacket hi through the perforations i3 and into the pipe it. The air bubbles through the liquid within the pipe and induces movement of the liquid by a socalled air lift. This air lift causes circulatory movement of the solution external the pipe together with the olives contained therein, so that the olives are fed with the solution into the intake end of the pipe and upwardly of the pipe and outwardly thereof, as indicated by the arrows 23. Such movement is continuous as long as the air bubbles through the liquid within the pipe H). In this manner, each olive in the tank is constantly moved at a given rate and the lye liquid is thoroughly aerated, which helps to add color to the olives during the lyetreatment part of the process.

The conical base of the tank assures that the olives 2! will at all times be directed downwardly toward the inlet end of the pipe ill for passage upwardly through the pipe. There are no zones in the tank into which the olives may settle and thereby not be properly aerated.

We are aware that certain systems and apparatus utilize tanks in which olives are aerated in a bath of liquid, but such devices to the inventors knowledge require huge volumes of air to aerate the olives, while many of the olives in corners of the tank or on'the bottom of the tank are moved but slightly and some are not moved at all, thus permitting a contact mark between the olives where the exposure is uneven. In these processes and apparatus, it is customary to frequently use a jet of very high pressure air to dislodge the banks of olives in the corners and bottoms of the vats, or to use a wooden paddle to stir between the forks which introduce the air on the bottom. Our method of processing overcomes the disadvantages of the devices just mentioned.

Thus, the olives 2| in the lye solution, with the use of the air-lift pump and the passage thereof through the pump pipe it results in a uniform stirring movement of the olives. The olives which have been elevated through the pipe i l settle on top of the olive layer which is already there, thus forcing this layer downward toward the conical base, which in turn directs the olives into the inlet ll? of the pipe Ill. The complete aeration of the lye, or the water in which the 4 olives are exposed between lye solutions, is achieved through the introduction of a large volume of air into the pipe Ill, with resultant spraying of the lye solution above the surface of the olives, thus permitting the lye or water to absorb all the air possible before falling back upon the olives. It is important to observe that by forcing air through pump pipe I!) in a large volume, violent agitation is obtained over a small area of the tank. Movement of all of the olives is achieved by aeration of a small percentage of the total area of the tank. Thus, by using only a fraction of the air which is required in the usual underwater process, where the whole area of a tank is aerated, a much better aeration is achieved, and a more uniform lye penetration of the olives is possible. Uniform control of the strength of the lye solution is obtained since the lye solution is violently circulated in pipe I!) at all times. If it becomes necessary to increase or decrease the lye strength, it is simple of accomplishment because added lye or water at the Zone of the air lift becomes mixed in the fraction of a minute and a test can be readily obtained. On the other hand, introduction of lye or salt into a large tank, where air is coming to the surface over the entire area, will form liquid currents and it is almost impossible to get a uniform mixture in a tank by this method.

After the lye process is complete, the removal of lye by wash water is simple of accomplishment because it is possible to introduce a small stream of fresh water into the center of the tank and thereby achieve a rapid removal of lye without using a large volume of Water. It is also possible to remove the lye by continuous neutralization with phosphoric or other fruit acids introducted into the air lift. A glass electrode inserted at this point may be used to register the pH of the wash water which can be kept at the neutral point or between pH 7 and pH 8, thus insuring more rapid removal of the lye than would be possible by frequent changes of water or the introduction of a small portion .of fresh water. Thus, when the lye has been removed and itis necessary to brine the olives, this is accomplished by adding concentrated brine at the pump discharge and measuring the resultant brine until the proper strength is obtained. The olives may be renderedsterile or the solution sterile by use of any of the well-known lamps for this purpose which may be suspended above the open top of the tank. It is evident that as each olive must make its cycle of movement, the contents of the tank are exposed to this lamp regularly. Pasteurization of the olives may be accomplished by introducing steam in place of air through pipe 15, which will cause an even flow of heat into the tank to bring the temperature up to degrees without "local heating or damage to the olives.

I It is assumed that ordinary olive treatment is known to those skilled in the art,.and accordingly we have not set forth, except in the statement of objects, any particular treatment for olives. However, and briefly stated, to develop good black color in olives, it is necessary that the olives not be out too deeply with lye at any one time, and that the portion already treated with lye be exposed to air. Thus, the lye treatment usually occupies a period of four hours with intervals of 242 to 48 hours of air treatment. Hence, in ordinary proc esses, the lye treatment occurs every other day, whereas in the practice of the present invention, part of the aeration takes place during the lye treatment and it is therefore possible to treat the olives with lye every day instead of every other day. Since the cutting or lye treatment is much more uniform in the olive, fewer lye treatments are used to secure "auniform darker color. This afiords a saving of time, and allows the olives to be processed at a faster rate per square foot of floor space used. Except for the man who supervises the application of the difierent solutions used in processing, our process is completely without labor usually associated with olive processing.

Assuming that the olives have been processed and it is desired to remove the olives from the tank, this may be accomplished in the manner illustrated in Figure 3 by adding a length of pipe 24 to the pump pipe H). In other words, the lower end of the pipe 24 telescopes or acts as a sleeve on the upper end of the pump pipe ID, the base of pipe 24 resting upon the braces IS. A grating of perforated plate 25, provided with two spaced side walls 26 and an end wall 21, is then positioned above the tank at an inclination, with the upper end of the pipe 24 communicating thereabove as shown. When fresh water with air or even lyebearing liquid is passed through the pump pipe [0, and through the pipe 24, the olives and the liquid are lifted and deposited on the grating or perforated plate 25, the olives moving downwardly due to inclination of the plate into a receiving hopper 28, the liquid passing through the grating or the perforations and back into the tank. Thus, the tank is easily emptied of olives, and by a method which is extremely simple and far superior to methods and means now generally employed in the industry. After the tank has been emptied of olives, the pipe 24 with the grating may be removed and a fresh batch of olives to be processed placed in the tank.

In Figure 4, we have illustrated a method which may be utilized in the practice of the invention and wherein the overflow of pipe 20 may be connected by suitable piping 29 to a pump 30, the eduction port of the pump communicating with a jet 31 positioned at the lower end of pipe In. As before, the jacket l4 surrounds the pipe and particularly that portion of pipe ll] having the perforations I3, and pipe l5 communicating with pump I! for air. Thus, for the purpose of circulating the olives within the solution 22, we draw the solution from the overflow of the tank, that is, the overflow through 20, back into the tank by directing such solution through jet 3|. This method will keep the olives circulating by the same method as accomplished by the air lift previously described for Figure 2. However, to aerate the solution, a small amount of air is directed from the air pump ll into the pipe 10. The result accomplished is the same in that the solution is circulated, the olives are lifted under fluid pressure through the pipe Ill, and the solution is aerated.

We claim:

A device for processing ripe olives, including a tank having a circular side wall open at the top and provided with an inverted conical base, a perforated plate extending transversely of the conical base and spaced inwardly from the apex of said base; a pipe central of the tank, means for supporting said pipe above the perforated plate to provide an inlet at the lower end of said pipe, said pipe provided with perforations adjacent the inlet thereof, a jacket surrounding the pipe at the zone of the perforations, an inclined grating in communication with the outlet of the pipe and means for directing air under pressure within said pipe for the purpose of elevating liquid and olives contained therein onto the grating, the olives being directed in one path by said grating and the liquid passing through said grating and back into the tank.

RICHARD N. BALL. EDWARD VAN DELLEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 399,200 Koehler Mar. 5, 1889 404,143 Wirtz May 28, 1889 642,460 Kersten Jan. 30, 1900 708,058 Martinson Sept. 2, 1902 931,980 Woodbury Aug. 24, 1909 950,753 Nolan Mar. 1, 1910 1,574,783 Beth Mar. 2, 1926 2,057,366 Chapman Oct. 13, 1936 2,077,907 Streander Apr. 20, 1937 2,356,287 Van Dellen Aug. 22, 1944 

